The question is based on Wole Soyinka's The Lion and the Jewel The play is a

Analyze the question: You are asked to identify the genre (type of drama) of Wole Soyinka's The Lion and the Jewel (1963).

Explain the concept:

• Comedy: a play with a light-hearted tone, humour, and a happy ending, often ending in marriage or celebration.
• Tragi-comedy: a play that mixes serious, tragic elements with comic ones.
• Farce: a comedy built on exaggerated, absurd situations and slapstick.
• Melodrama: a sensational play with exaggerated emotion and clear heroes and villains.

Solution:

1. The Lion and the Jewel is set in the village of Ilunjinle. Its central conflict is the contest between Baroka, the old Bale (chief), and Lakunle, the young schoolteacher, for the hand of Sidi, the village beauty.
2. The tone is light and humorous throughout. Lakunle's pompous, bookish English and his half-understood "modern" ideas are the target of satire. Baroka's trickery (pretending to be impotent) is also comic.
3. The play uses dance, mime, song and festivity, and it ends happily with Sidi's wedding to Baroka. A happy ending with a wedding is the classic mark of a comedy.
4. No major character suffers a tragic downfall, which rules out tragi-comedy. The play is also not built on slapstick or absurd chaos, which rules out farce. It lacks the heavy sensationalism of melodrama.

Note: some critics do describe it as having satirical and farcical touches, but the standard classification, and the one the exam expects, is comedy.

Correct answer: A. Comedy

Exam tip: Remember the pattern: comedy = humour + happy ending/wedding. Soyinka's play ends with a marriage and celebration, so for JAMB, label it a comedy. Also remember its themes: tradition versus modernity, and the clash between Baroka (the "Lion") and Sidi (the "Jewel").